The Summer that was 2010...

If you are a regular subscriber to this blog, then you know that I have been thoroughly submerged in the business of creating comics (intellectual properties for those who don't like the term "comics") and trying to launch a lifelong dream. But like the popular insurance commercial that you see while watching football on Sunday afternoons in the Fall...life happens fast. I alluded to the events that were about to happen in an earlier blog post and they have come to a brutal, and bloody fruition. The normal components of my once seemingly normal life have been torn asunder and I have been left reeling in the wake of the wrecking ball of fate. No need to really mention details other than the foundations of my life and those around me that matter have been uprooted and challenged. You might think that this is the end of my endeavors but it most certainly is not. I have been a dreamer for most of my life, recently I had gotten into the habit of imagining terrible things...calamities and nightmare scenarios because I was holding on to tightly to things that I thought were mine...material items, titles, people, etc...I had been infected by the rat race. The rat race impeded my ability to dream. It made me cranky, dreamers don't want to worry...they want to create...they want to love, be passionate, share and absorb the creativity that exists around them. Within the words of this blog you see the raw, unfettered thews of my prodigious imagination. I am not a braggart but I know what God has blessed me with and I speak about it today because too many of us have talents and abilities that are obscured by the labyrinth we've let the world put us in. It appears to the naked eye that my life is in shambles. Everything that I have fought so hard to keep, protect, covet is now lost in the sauce of everyday American life. But I still have this incredible ability to dream. To create. To tell stories and to quicken one's heart rate as I get into the flow about this character or that one. As I look at the events of the summer of 2010, my personal life could have gone a lot smoother. But being stripped down to my bare essence, I have been forced to look at what it is that I really am. What it is that I should really be pursuing. No more putting off dreams until I hit these sales numbers or hit the lottery. The dream must be pursued now. If it isn't and God truly intends for you to achieve this dream then you best believe you will be pushed down under the water until you see your proper path. This summer has been one of intense pain for me, but it has also been one of immense personal growth. I hate adversity, if I had my way I would shoot through life care free with zero problems and everything that I ever wanted at my fingertips. But I wonder would those things that I had truly be as worth much to me as they will be now having gone through the fire. This was a fairly boring blog for those of you who want to know more juicy details about Lucius Hammer and The Harlem Shadow so I will share some highlights about those topics briefly. Lucius Hammer and The Harlem Shadow appeared at The Onyxcon down in Atlanta on August 13 and 14. The Onyxcon is a black run comic book convention that is building a name for itself and was truly a beautiful experience. Not to knock any other cons but you aint been to a comic book convention until you've been to a black comic con. People of all colors, congregating, laughing, dj's on turntables, African artwork and images of black heroes you never could see in a regular store...I mean it when I say it was an experience. I had the great fortune of meeting a rather well connected person in the entertainment industry who was very interested in The Harlem Shadow and even as I am typing this blog entry things are going down to create an animated feature out of that particular idea. So all is not lost, in fact this is most likely a rebirth of a dreamer who died trying to be something he wasn't. Hopefully as I crawl from the wreckage and learn how to walk again, I can once again reunite myself with the people and things that matter in a more harmonious manner. But I must remind myself to never stop dreaming about good things and be true to who I was put here to be. No pain, no gain. Never has there been a truer statement. Stay tuned for some upbeat news and details in a couple of weeks. Peace and love to all of you...and keep your heads to the sky!!!!